To Have and To Heal
by writeforeverforlife
Summary: When Rose starts jumping through dimensions, she's hoping to find the Doctor. Instead, she finds someone who is just as desperate as she is to find the Time Lord: Captain Jack Harkness. Set Post-Doomsday, pre-Utopia with spoilers for season one of Torchwood. Rated T for swearing, references to violence and Captain Jack Harkeness
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: When Rose starts jumping through dimensions, she's hoping to find the Doctor. Instead, she finds someone who is just as desperate as she is to find the Time Lord: Captain Jack Harkness. Set Post-Doomsday, pre- Utopia with spoilers for season one of Torchwood.**

**Author's Note: Hello! I've had this plot bouncing around in my head for quite a while, and I figured I would finally try writing it down. This is my first attempt at a Doctor Who fanfic and the techno babble might take a little getting used to, so try and be patient with me! The first few chapters of this story will be taking place in Torchwood episodes… Not quite enough that I consider this a crossover, especially because Torchwood and Doctor Who do take place in the same universe. Quite soon we'll jump back into the Doctor and plots you'll recognize from Doctor Who, since I'm not sure how many of you guys watch Torchwood! Now, I'll shut up… I just wanted to get that out of the way! Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Doctor Who**_**. It all belongs to the BBC. I'm just playing around. Don't sue me, and I promise I'll update. Sound like a plan, Stan?**

Chapter 1

Captain Jack Harkness was, quite frankly, frustrated. To say it had been a hell of a few weeks would be an understatement. Meeting those three travelers from the 1950s had worn down the entire team. They had each connected to the people out of their time, with no one to turn to. Even Owen—the heartless bastard who generally looked only for sex in relationships—had fallen for the pilot. Oh, sure, he had tried to hide behind the pretense of sex, but Jack had seen the look in his eyes. Watching that girl fly back into the rift broke what little piece of heart Dr. Owen Harper might possess.

It had practically turned Owen suicidal, especially after he had found an underground fighting ring. Fighting the Weevils hadn't gotten rid of Owen's stress; it had only increased the agitation that he felt towards the world, Jack in particular. Tension had been building between Jack and Owen, waiting for something to burst into a full blown fight. It hadn't helped that Jack had gotten himself and Tosh stuck in the 1940s where Jack was reminded of his own past. Honestly, the universe was testing him. The first place he had been able to time travel for one hundred and fifty years was the one place he didn't want to go to. Reminders of the conman Jack had been, reminders of the Blitz and the Doctor and Rose…

It was just too much.

The team was all home now, though. Gwen had left early enough to actually have dinner with Rhys, something Jack knew she missed. Owen had most likely gone to drink his troubles away, try to find a cheap hook-up. Tosh would be sitting quietly, alone, in her flat. Ianto went back to his flat to … do whatever it was that Ianto did when he wasn't working. But Captain Jack was doing what he was always doing: staying at the Hub, trying to distract himself from this half-life he was living. When he was running around with his team, it was easy enough to distract himself. Just focusing on Tosh's determination to solve problem, Owen's snarky behavior, the need to solve one more case, or Gwen's caring nature that reminded him so much of Rose would make him forget how many years he'd lived.

Then they would go back to their lives, and he would be left in the Hub. Sleeping, occasionally, monitoring the rift activity, cleaning up after recent cases. It felt like tonight would be another one of _those_ nights: the ones that went on forever, where he couldn't escape the bad memories of the past sneaking up on him. Jack knew that if he closed his eyes for just one second, he would see the car he was in the previous week, helping another man to take his own life. He would find himself greeting the real Captain Jack Harkness, knowing his fate and not being able to change it.

This, Jack had realized decades earlier, must be what the Doctor felt like, especially after the Time War. An endless night, with only tiny stars of light to catch his interest: that's what life was. Of course, Rose Tyler would have been more like a shooting star, filling the sky completely, blinding the helpless Time Lord who had been so used to the dark.

Imagine how much darker it was now that that light had faded. Now that Rose Tyler had died at Canary Wharf.

With a sigh, Jack pulled himself out of his office and down the stairs. He flicked one of the computers to life, thinking he would check for any rift activity, hoping for the chance to chase down a Weevil to burn off some stress. The levels were perfectly normal, though, so he picked up a few basic files—paperwork, the worst part of the job. But if he wanted to keep any connection to this job, he had to satisfy the government with basic reports, so he did it with minimal complaint. Boring enough to spend hours on, but not mindless enough to let his mind wander. Maybe paperwork was exactly what Jack Harkness needed.

It was about 2 A.M. and halfway through the stack of files when one of the computers beeped out a warning. An energy strike was running through the rift—a different kind than Jack had ever seen. He ran over there, trying to analyze what exactly what happening. Tosh had felt the need to put her own touches on the programs, though, so Jack's knowledge of computers from beyond the 21st century was practically useless. From what he could tell, this was different than when people would fall from a different time, like the singular plane had fallen from 1953. That probably meant an alien from a faraway planet would be running loose through Cardiff now.

Turning on the CCTV, Jack tried to find the creature, hoping to at least know a general physical description before taking the van out searching. Luckily for Jack, the area surrounding the Hub was practically empty, so even if the alien was particularly hostile, almost no damage would be done.

There wasn't any form of alien wandering outside the Hub. Instead, Jack saw a single human figure take a few steps forward, stumbling as if drunk or injured. Through the dark and grainy quality, Jack could tell the figure was female and blonde, but she was facing away from the camera, so it was impossible to get a better description. Jack reached for his coat, intending to help the girl, find out where she was from, see how he could help. But then she spun in a circle, facing directly towards the camera, and Jack saw her face. In an instant, he was running out of the Hub, too impatient to use the slow moving platform up to the surface or even grab his coat. He didn't see her start coughing and fall to her knees in pain.

No, he just knew that face.

The face that should have been dead.

Because that face belonged to Rose Marion Tyler.

**End note: If you aren't familiar with Torchwood, then the beginning descriptions may have made little made sense to you… If you are a follower of Russell T. Davies' Torchwood, then this fic is picking up right after "Captain Jack Harkness". From now on, almost everything with Torchwood and Doctor Who will be different. But assume that everything up until this point is perfectly cannon.**

**For now, tell me what you think!**

**~WriteForeverForLife~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I was originally going to publish this chapter tomorrow, but I just saw Twelve's outfit and that put me in a very Doctor Who mood :D So thank the BBC for this update! Allons-y! **

Chapter 2

Rose ducked quietly into the apartment building, chips in hand. How can food be so closely connected with memorizes? Honestly, Rose didn't know what she tortured herself. Chips just made her think of her Doctor—both the leather Doctor and the pinstriped Doctor—and made her mother's voice run through her head. _Rose Marion Tyler, if you don't stop eatin' those chips, you'll end up the size of a whale!_

But neither of them were there, anyway. It was just Rose and her chips.

Switching the bag to her left hand, Rose unlocked the door to her plain looking flat. Tiny kitchen, tiny bathroom, tiny living space. That's what any form of visitor to her apartment saw. What they didn't see was the real jewel of Rose Tyler's flat: the bedroom. Or, more specifically, the technology stored in the bedroom.

There wasn't even a bed in the room. No, it was simply a desk surrounded by monitors. High tech computers (much too advanced for Earth in this time period) covered one wall completely. Gadgets and gizmos, mostly of her design, covered a table along the opposite wall. Half of the monitors probably seemed like they were measuring nonsense to the general population, but Rose paid explicit attention to them.

They were her only chance of getting back home.

Oh, Jackie had tried to convince her a million times that home could be wherever she wanted it to be, even in a universe with zeppelins and absolutely no blue police boxes. Rose loved her family: her mum and Pete and Tony. They were important, and part of her did ache at the thought of leaving them behind. That's why, when Rose had first started work on the dimension cannon, she had convinced herself that it was only for emergencies. Her broken heart could stay here, so she wouldn't break her mothers.

The stakes were different these days. So, so much had changed since the dimension cannon had been completed. As Rose has suspected, even though its engineering was perfect—of that she was absolutely sure—the cannon just couldn't work when there weren't cracks in the walls between universes. That meant (after a long winded lecture from Torchwood big shots about wasting government funds) the dimension cannon had sat useless in the basement of what had once been Torchwood Three, waiting for the day that the walls between universes would weaken enough for one blonde human to sneak her way through.

And Rose thought that day might just be getting close.

There was no science about the multiverse. Books written by the best astrophysics professors on earth could only speculate about the concept of more than one universe. Rose Tyler was the only human being left with even slight knowledge of travel through time and space, but since her science vocabulary had been pretty limited when she had traveled with the Doctor, most of his babble had gone right over her head. Now she vehemently wished for a more accurate way to measure the energy readings she was getting. Sure, she was ninety percent sure these readings were suggesting a weakening between worlds, but they could also be predicting a hurricane in the South Pacific.

That was what tonight was for. It was a steak out, watching the reading, waiting for the rating to reach a level of 85. Currently, she was tracking a low caliber radiation level that she had only discovered because of herself and Mickey: the combination of jumping dimensions and traveling through time and space in the TARDIS seemed to leave them with more background radiation than a normal passenger in the TARDIS would have. Rose had realized that when the walls were perfectly in place, these levels of radiation from her proper universe would be at zero (though she had never seen the walls that intact), and she estimated that the level would have been about 20 or 30 when the Doctor was able to send his message through to her at Bad Wolf Bay.

65 was just an estimation for how high the radiation reading would have to be in order to let her through the void. That was where the table of gizmos came into play. These would function as her hand tools, the portable version of the dimension cannon. Looking much more like a vortex manipulator than the original void manipulators that Torchwood had used, Rose knew they would react when the hole was large enough.

So the waiting game was on, then. Just her and her chips and the multiverse. Waiting. Waiting.

Sure, the numbers were steadily climbing (they were reading around 30 now, probably the highest Rose had ever seen them) but that just wasn't enough. No, the right reading didn't come the night of the chips. It didn't come the next night when Rose brought home a whole group of bananas to eat while the numbers did almost nothing. It didn't happen the night Rose decided to indulge in some sleep, curling up under a fleece blanket on her couch.

No, it happened the night that Rose decided not to come home, almost three weeks after the Night of Chips. When she had spent all evening wandering through Cardiff, wondering if she should admit defeat, decide the universe wanted her here for some reason. It wasn't until the bars had long closed and fingers of pink and orange had started painting the morning sky over the bay that Rose had turned back to her flat. When she did, though, she saw a small green flashing light under the door to her room.

In that moment, Rose Tyler knew there was some form of a deity watching over the universe. Indeed, the readings displayed just what she had always wanted to see: 67. And her wrist cannon was lighting up. A tiny green light on the wristband was so insignificant compared to the flashing letters of the monitor screens, but that was the true notification Rose needed.

This was why she had planned ahead, Rose suddenly realized. This was why she already had a letter written to her family (the complete, tear-inducing letter explaining why it was better that she left) and had a bag hanging in the closet, waiting for the little green light. Because if she hadn't already packed that backpack, she would have jumped into the void empty-handed. No force on Earth could stop her from running out the flat full speed, right at this moment, grabbing only the wristband and backpack, dropping the letter addressed to the mansion in a random mailbox she found.

Rose allowed herself one last look around the small flat and just a few tears (never ones that would spill over) before leaving. Her family, she would miss. This flat, this city: not so much.

Slipping through the waking streets, Rose hurried towards the Hub. Once the home of Rose's team, Torchwood Three, it was now the resting place of a machine that all of Torchwood assumed was useless. Only one of the computers was even connected to the machine anymore because Rose was the only one who believed it would ever work.

Of course, there was one major problem.

Rose needed to turn the machine fully on in order for her wrist cannon to operate. That required going down into the guarded Hub. Now that Rose wasn't officially employed by Torchwood, she wasn't allowed here.

Never had Rose wished so hard for psychic paper.

Luckily, Torchwood had never bothered to change the codes that opened the vault door; no computer hacking skills were required for Rose to get in, then. Rose had a feeling that was going to be the only thing she had going for her within the next hour. Unless the guard was sleeping, she saw no clear way around a confrontation.

Before opening the door, Rose took a deep breath, reviewing the steps she would need to take in order to make the cannon operational. A few switches, less than five dials to adjust, give two commands to the computer. She could finish that in seven minutes, flat. And then she would push a single button and, literally, be out of this universe.

Three, two, one. Go.

Rose turned and pressed the correct numbers to open the door, urging the slow and loud vault door to open just a little faster. She didn't hear any footsteps or shouts coming from the upper levels, so she started towards the main controls. She had forgotten just how large the dimension cannon had ended up being when completed; originally, Rose had planned to convert only Owen's autopsy room into the room for the cannon and have the controls near Tosh's computer, since Tosh was working with her on the project. Then the machine had grown to fit in new components and account for more dangers in jumping. Now, the machine filled not only the autopsy room, but the old control room as well. The controls were up in Rose's old office, a flight of stairs up from the control room.

Once, Rose had imagined that Tosh would be in control of the machine while Ianto stayed with her until she jumped. Neither of them could help now, not without facing problems from Torchwood's leaders. That wasn't something Rose was going to let happen to two of her closest friends.

Rose had just slammed the door to her office when she heard the first footsteps, announcing a guard somewhere near the prison cells. That should give her about five minutes until he found her in the still dark office. Frantically, Rose brought the computer monitors to life while fumbling for the built-in wall panel. Damn it! Why hadn't she built the controls to be more efficient than this?

_Perish the thought_, Rose thought darkly. When she had completed the dimension cannon she had expected to be sad at the thought of leaving her family behind. She had pictured teary goodbyes with her team, her mother off in the background with Tony on her hip. Never had she expected to be running from the organization who had given her the ability to build this gateway.

"Who's there?" shouted the guard, still a level below Rose, clicking the safety off on his gun.

Rose knew it would be now or never. There was no way she was coming this far and getting shot because she couldn't press buttons fast enough. With extra incentive, Rose typed the necessary commands into the computer, only daring to look through the glass wall for a second before focusing back on the screen. She knew the guard would be at the top of the stairs in less than a minute.

"Torchwood! Put your hands in the air!" Rose looked up to see the guard outside the office as she was finishing the most important command: a way to destruct the necessary parts of dimension cannon after she jumped. Rose did stand up, but her hands went to the device on her wrist instead of above her head. The gun was shaking in her attackers hand; he obviously wasn't used to people breaking into the Hub or using his gun.

"I'm sorry," Rose gave the man a smile. "I hope I didn't break your perfect record of no break-ins." The guard watched, confused, as she reached to her wrist and pressed two buttons on some sort of device. She gave him one more glance before disappearing to... nowhere. She simply vanished. What had he just seen?

Rose had always wondered what this—jumping between universes without the TARDIS to protect her—would feel like. Now she had her answer. Every one of her atoms was being pulled, both inward and outwards at the same time. Remembering the bumpy transition between universes in the TARDIS, Rose felt for the ship. Especially for a ship that was built around time itself, the feeling of different universes would not only be unnatural, but also downright painful.

How long she was in that dark-but-not-empty space, Rose wasn't sure. Time just didn't seem to exist, and Rose couldn't pinpoint what had been her last thought before jumping and what had been her last thought before landing.

But she could remember her first thought after landing.

Safe. At last.

Then the feeling of the elements hit her: harsh wind blowing and loud noises from a few streets over. Lights from a street lamp above her head and the gentle smell of saltwater. She stepped—or was it stumbled?—forward a few steps, trying to get her bearings.

She spun around then, to confirm her suspicions. There, rising high above her was the Hub. The exact same place she had just left, only one universe over. Just over to her right: that was where she, the Doctor and Jack had landed oh-so-long ago.

She was in the right universe.

Suddenly, her body was shaking as she started coughing, violently. Her body could feel the effects of jumping head first into the void. Her head spun and her muscles ached; still coughing, Rose collapsed onto her knees, fighting against the black threatening to take over her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, David Tennant and Matt Smith would probably do several more episodes together. And we would have had a spin-off where we got to see the life with Rose and the 10.5 in the parallel world. Do you believe that I don't own Doctor Who now?**

Chapter 3

Rose.

Rose was here.

Rose and the Doctor in the TARDIS.

That's how it always was.

Jack should have known the Doctor wouldn't let Rose Tyler die at Canary Wharf. Rose's name was just there because the Doctor didn't do clean up, never did clean up... just ran right back into time and space. Luckily the Rift was one thing Jack knew the Doctor would always eventually need. Maybe there were other rifts like this one in the world, but Jack always hoped the Doctor would come back to Cardiff.

Looked like his plan finally worked.

If Rose Tyler was wandering around Cardiff, then the Doctor must be close behind. So maybe Jack's super-effective "Doctor Detector" didn't work and wouldn't pick up the TARDIS landing after all. Jack Harkness couldn't bring himself to care. Because Rose was here and the Doctor was right behind her, he was sure.

When he finally made it outside, Jack frantically looked around for the blonde head he had seen on the CCTV, keeping an open for any leather jackets that may be following after her. His face fell and he started moving again, full speed, when he saw Rose bent over, knees and hands on the ground, coughing far too much. Was she sick? Had she been injured? Why would the Doctor let her out of his sight—or even out of the TARDIS—if Rose was sick?

Even though there was only fifty yards between them—closer than Jack had been to her since he kissed her goodbye on the Gamestation all too long ago—there was suddenly too much distance between them, she looked too sick, it had been too long, the Doctor was too far away...

"Rose!" At the sound of the familiar voice, Rose looked up, searching for the voice she thought was long dead. Jack Harkness. Captain Jack Harkness was running towards her, full speed, looking like she was the greatest gift he had ever received. For a second, she couldn't believe her luck, finding Jack within seconds of landing back in this universe. Jack had a vortex manipulator; Jack could travel through time and space. Jack could help her find the Doctor.

But those fantasies ended in a few seconds, because she remembered. Jack Harkness was dead, had died on the Gamestation, fighting a fleet of Daleks, fighting for _her_. Rose still remembered the day she finally gathered enough nerve to ask the Doctor about Jack. Originally, minutes after he had regenerated, the Doctor had made some remark about Jack being busy saving the earth. Later, Rose would justify that as his mind being scrambled; after all, he had been very sick after he regenerated, it would only make sense if he was a little confused as well.

"Doctor?" Rose had finally asked when her pinstriped Doctor was negotiating the TARDIS into the vortex after their run-in with Queen Victoria. "What ever happened to Jack? I know there were Daleks and he didn't think he was going to make it, obviously, but… I just wanted to know…" Her voice started straining at the end, the threat of tears for her beloved captain was prominent, especially with the look the Doctor gave her. His face would define sadness better than any dictionary: there was sadness for Rose's loss, sadness for the loss of life. The Doctor had stopped his movements at the console when she had first said Jack, and had slowly turned to her as she babbled. His mouth had turned down at the edges and his eyes were dreading being dragged back into the past. Not once did the Doctor say anything, but Rose Tyler knew. There was no way that Captain Jack Harkness had survived that fight with the Daleks. No, not when the Doctor's face looked like that, not with the way the Doctor had pulled Rose into his arms to whisper a tiny "_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"_ into her ear as she had begun to sob.

But Jack was here, right now, with her. No, Rose realized, she was with him. She had joined him in whatever sort of afterlife this was. He was her consolation prize.

She thought she had been so lucky, making it into Cardiff on her first jump. Rose should have known the universe wouldn't be that nice.

No, Rose Tyler was dead, with only an echo of Captain Jack Harkness to console her.

That was why she was in pain, why it felt like her chest was constricting and her lungs were folding in on themselves. By the time Jack was able to pull her into his arms, sobs had mixed in with her coughing.

"Rose, oh, Rosie. I thought you were dead for so long now. I was so worried, after Canary Wharf, I should have known the Doctor would just whisk you away…"

Rose sobbed harder when Jack mentioned her death out loud; she couldn't bear to hear the words laid for her where they couldn't be denied. "I'm dead. I'm dead!" The words were forced out of Rose's throat, the first time far too quiet, the second time far too loud. As Jack stared at her, stunned, she was able to push away from him and wrap her arms around her knees, consoling herself over the way she failed to return to her Doctor.

"You're not dead. Rose, you're here with me, right now, in Cardiff." Simple words from Jack, perhaps, but they were all Rose Tyler needed to shout at him.

"Exactly my point, Jack! I am here with you!_ You_ are dead! You have been since the Gamestation. If I'm with you, then I'm dead, I failed, I should have listened to the Doctor when he said no one could survive the void. I should have stayed where I was and faced the consequences, because-"

"Rose, who told you I was dead?" When Jack had first heard her say that, pieces fell into place. That was why they hadn't tried to save him thousands of years into the future, and why they had never checked for him on earth or anywhere else in the galaxy. The Doctor and Rose Tyler thought that he was dead, turned to dust by some Daleks and had flown off before Jack had the chance to show them otherwise.

For a moment, Jack thought he saw Rose's face twist into one of mourning, but then it was angry again. "What else happens to man surrounded by aliens who get their afternoon joy out of exterminating anyone or anything that isn't exactly like them? You kissed me good-bye and went to save us. But I never saw you again. What else could there be?"

What else indeed, Jack mused silently. He thought for sure the traveling duo would have answers about his new existence, the one where he could never die. Somehow the three of them had gotten out of a situation no one should have survived... and none of them might have the right answers.

Once again, Jack engulfed Rose—his brilliant girl, the one he had waited so long to find—in a bear hug, kissing the top of her head. He closed his eyes for just a moment, thinking of all the years he had been upset with Rose Tyler for allowing the Doctor to run away from Jack. All those years he would have gladly shouted at her the way she was shouting at him, if he had found her.

"Oh, Rose, you aren't dead. There is no way either me or the Doctor would let you die. It just seems like we have catching up to do. Me, you, and the Doctor. Where is the old Time Lord? Messing around with his toys in the TARDIS? I can't believe he would let you out with that cough."

Rose pulled away from Jack's embrace slightly, disappointment evident in her features. "_Catching up_ is an understatement. Oh, Jack, I need to explain my new life, my new world… I haven't seen the Doctor in years."

Jack's high hopes for the way this evening would end—the gruff northern voice that was sure to complain about Jack's arms around the blonde, and the beautiful blue box that was sure to be parked a street or two away—came crashing down. Rose had left the Doctor? The girl so hopelessly in love with Mr. Big Ears would just walk away?

No, that didn't sound like the Rose Tyler he knew. He was going to question her, demand to know why she would ever leave a man who obviously loved her with both of his hearts, when she groaned, pain obvious in her eyes. Jack was reminded of earlier, seeing her on her hands and knees. She _did_ feel a little limp in his arms, like she wasn't strong enough to hold herself up independently.

"Rosie? What's wrong? Are you sick?" What could have happened to her that she thought she had died?

"I did get a little sick last time, but not like this…" Rose seemed to be wondering out loud before a wheeze cut her sentence off.

"That's it. You need a doctor—if not the Doctor. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No!" Rose demanded suddenly; Jack had never seen her so adamant before. Sure, he had seen her stubborn or reluctant, but this was different. She almost looked scared. Of a hospital? What could have happened to her that she would be scared of a crew of medical professionals? Jack hesitated in his movements, wondering if he should force her to go anyway. She was obviously in pain and coughing and paler than normal, or at least what had been her normal while traveling on the TARDIS.

"Rose, you need medical attention. Listen to your cough. You're obviously in pain, and even your voice is off. It may have been quite a while since I've seen you, but you have never taken pain lightly. You are in enough pain that you thought you _died_ when I found you. Let me help you, please." By the end, Jack was pleading. Whatever was happening to Rose couldn't continue. If she winced one more time, he was dragging her to the nearest doctor. But all he got in response to his speech was a glare. She didn't seem inclined to respond. "Can you at least tell me what hurts?"

"My lungs, my head, my muscles. They're just readjusting. But you can't take me to a doctor, Jack. It's too dangerous."

_Too dangerous? _What was too dangerous was her lungs in pain. What was too dangerous was how Rose was brushing off her pain like nothing had happened. But Jack knew Rose Tyler, trusted her completely, so he couldn't push her into something she says was dangerous. Was something… different about her? He knew time travel left basic radiation traces around a human, but there weren't any physical differences he knew it could cause. Jack searched Rose's eyes, wondering what it was that was bothering so much, wondering what had happened to this beautiful girl since the last time he had seen her to cause her to look so scared, wondering how he could make her smile again.

"Let me help you, then? Please? I can't let you be in pain, Rose. Can I take you home, Miss Tyler?" Jack flashed a smile with a wink, hoping to remind her of the playboy that had danced with her next to Big Ben, the one that had flirted openly with both her and the Doctor.

It worked. To Jack's greatest delight, Rose let out a laugh. "Did your general policy of 'Hands off the Blonde' change, Captain?"

"I think I threw that out the window when I saw your beautiful face again. It's been too long, Rose Tyler."

When she was quiet, Jack started walking her back towards the Hub. He needed to explain, somehow, about Torchwood and where he was taking her. Jack was sure the Doctor was involved with Canary Wharf and Torchwood One, but now he wasn't sure if Rose was still with him. If she was, and she knew the things that Torchwood had done, then she might not want to set foot within Torchwood Three. Wondering if there was a way to casually ask about a very specific event was void, though, because Rose opened that conversation before Jack could have the chance to.

"How long has it been for you, Jack?" Her voice was quiet, almost timid, in a way that Jack had never heard before.

"Remember how I told you we have some catching up to do? Yeah, this fits in perfectly. Because I've been on earth for about one hundred and thirty years since the Gamestation."

Rose stopped walking. Just stopped, and stared at him. Surely, surely, Jack was kidding her. But when Rose looked into his eyes, she could see it. In no way had Jack Harkness been innocent when they first met, but even she could see that the darkness in his eyes had grown. Before, he had faced problems from all across time and space, springing from the 51st century, but exploring the universe as if it was his backyard. Now, he had stayed grounded on one planet, facing problems with no option of running away like the Doctor did. What had he lived through, Rose wondered, that left his eyes looking a century older than the rest of him?

"But you still look young."

Jack reached forward, putting his hands on Rose's shoulders. "There's too much to explain, Rosie. Let me help you first. I have… somewhere that might be helpful. Medical equipment, but no doctors that could cause you harm, okay? Just me. You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Jack."

With that, Jack put his arm around her shoulders again, allowing her to take whatever support she needed from him, and led her to the entrance of the tourist office that led to the Hub. When he opened the secret door into the Hub, he expected her to be confused, or at least shocked, as Gwen had been not too long ago. But instead he found her smiling and nodding towards the door.

"Yes, I suppose the Hub would have a lot of medical equipment in it, wouldn't it?"

Jack just stared at her. That was officially when Jack realized that much more had happened to this girl than he had given her credit for.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for the wonderful response to this story! All your reviews and follows make my day! :) At this point, I'm looking to publish about two chapters a week for awhile. Now onto the chapter! :)**

Chapter 4

If it was up to her, Rose Tyler would have stayed in that spot all day and gloated. She had never managed to surprise Jack Harkness with anything when they were traveling on the TARDIS. Now he stood there, open mouthed, staring at her as if she had just unzipped her forehead and turned out to be a Slitheen.

"Okay, you were right. We do have more than a bit of catching up to do, Rosie."

She wasn't traveling with the Doctor, and she knew about Torchwood. He was in charge here, had been in charge here for longer than Rose had been alive, so it wasn't like she could have visited. Unless... Jack stopped the thought before it had started. There was no way a member of his team had snuck Rose Tyler in without him knowing about it.

Jack allowed Rose to go in front of him, marveling at the way she smiled at the Hub. To be completely honest, the Hub was a bit of a mess. Random tables with mismatched alien tech lying around and floors that have never really been cleaned certainly prevented the Hub from looking homey. But that was exactly the look Rose Tyler was giving it: she looked like she was coming home.

"I haven't seen it this empty in a long time. Or, at least, this operational. This isn't what mine looks like anymore. Funny, though, the way some things stay the same no matter what," Rose said, brushing a hand against the wall as she descended the stairs. "So... Torchwood Three, right?"

"That would be the one. Care to explain how you know what Torchwood is? Well, actually, considering the reports I've read, you are the reason for Torchwood." Rose gave half a smirk at that. Jack needed to remember to ask about that story later, how the Doctor and Rose had ended up battling werewolves with Queen Victoria. "But, Rose Tyler, I do believe you owe me an explanation for how you know about Torchwood Three and the Hub."

"Easy, Jack. This was my team." When Jack started to open his mouth to question how she could have ever led this team, she smiled and held up a hand. "Remember the catching up, Jack? This is point number one for me. I've kind of been living in a different universe for... well, a while."

Jack stared at her. "You can't be serious." Rose's face assured him that she was, indeed, serious. "That isn't possible! There is no such thing as travel between universes. There was talk that Canary Wharf had something to do with another universe, but with how much damage was done, there was no way to confirm it."

Rose gave him a sad smile. "I should have figured the Doctor wouldn't stay around to answer questions. Now, Jack, weren't you going to be a good host and help me feel better? Granted, I'm pretty sure there isn't much you can do. I could probably settle for a cuppa and a few hours rest."

"You mean it, Rosie? You just came back from another universe?"

"With adverse effects, yes. No permanent damage done, I hope. This happened the last time, though not as immediate and not as harshly. Just a bit of an aching head for a few days. Maybe I will let you run a few tests. Tomorrow, of course. If you're anything like me, you have a bed somewhere in this building because leaving just seems too illogical sometimes. And you've practically been trying to get me into your bed since you first met me. Would you mind if I borrowed it for a single night?" Rose smiled so sweetly, teasing to cover the serious statement she had just made: both of these two commanders had often felt the need to ignore the rest of the world for entire days at a time sometimes and hide in a secret base. What had happened to Rose to make her react to situations the same way Jack did? The Rose he had left was always an optimist who would run out and face her fears, not hide away from them.

"Up in my office," Jack answered her with a nod. "Unless you've stolen Time Lord technology and that bag is bigger on the inside, not likely you have much of a wardrobe in there."

Rose shrugged. "There's enough for a couple days. Plus a bit of cash for new things. Really, Jack, you didn't think I decided to leave home with absolutely nothing, did you?"

Jack hadn't answered by the time they reached his office. Rose wanted to explain to him, to sit up for hours with tea to rehash old trips on the TARDIS and to explain Canary Wharf and her work with the Dimension Cannon. Her chest was still hurting, though she was trying to hide the pain from Jack. The numb feeling she had felt in her limbs was starting to fade, though, so she was hoping the feeling of an elephant on her chest would fade soon as well.

Meanwhile, Jack was worrying over the room, barely making eye contact with Rose. He had made an effort to start and fix the sheet on the bed, before just tearing them off completely, mumbling something about he had to have extra sheets somewhere in the Hub. He pushed past Rose on his way out of the room and Rose stayed silent. She knew the idea of parallel universes and Rose being alive was a lot to grasp, but Jack had always been a vocal person, choosing the think out loud just as often as inside his head.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Rose asked as Jack made his way back into the room, sheets in hand.

He turned with a brilliant smile on his face, looking like the Captain she used to know, but it was more than obvious that he wasn't feeling like her Captain. "I'm just not used to house guests, Rosie. Haven't quite had the accommodations for a while. I guess I'm just too much of a man, huh? Never changing my sheets."

"That's not what I meant, Jack, and you know it."

For a long moment, he just stared at her and, though she was the one in pain, all she wanted to do was to heal him. It was obvious, for as much as there something physically wrong with her from the dimension jumping, Jack was deeply hurt emotionally, by so much and so many over these long years since their last meeting.

"Rose, for so long now, I honestly thought you and the Doctor had abandoned me on Satellite 5. I would have rotted up there if I hadn't had my vortex manipulator. I understand, you didn't know I was alive. Hell, it even makes sense when I think about it." His voice was soft as he spoke and he reached forward, putting his hand against Rose's cheek as he continued. "And then Canary Wharf happened a year ago… Your name was on the list of the dead. Both you and your mother. I knew the Doctor had to be involved—honestly, who else would be involved with Daleks and Cybermen?—but I thought that you must have slipped out of his hands, gotten a little too close to some danger."

He took a deep breath, tears starting to gather in his eyes. "Rose, finding you today, I thought everything was going to be solved. I thought I had found you and good old Big Ears would be waiting around the corner. I am so relieved to find you again, to know you're still safely breathing, but I guess it just unearthed a lot of old emotions I've been ignoring."

Rose reached up and put a hand over the one on her cheek, leaning into the Captain's embrace. She couldn't imagine what had happened to him over the century and a half he had been alone, or how he had managed to survive. If only they could spend this night talking, using each other as a pillar of strength to lean on, maybe they could fill in these missing pieces to the stories they knew. But Rose was still hurting, had been holding in a coughing fit for as long as Jack was talking, and her energy level was at zero. She needed a good twenty-four hours before she would be able to confess her side of the story to Jack.

"You don't need to ignore any of those emotions now, Jack. I'm right here, I promise. Somehow, together, we'll find the TARDIS traveling through our area and the Doctor right along with her. We can talk more tomorrow, yeah? I really need that rest."

Jack could see the way her muscles were going limp; she still wasn't completely steady on her feet. Part of him longed to just drag her down to Owen's medical equipment and give her an examination, but he also wanted to respect her wishes. He helped her lay down, gently kissing her forehead.

"Good night, Rosie," he whispered against her forehead, desperate not to move away from her, even to let her sleep. What if he woke up downstairs at his desk, face pressed into the folders of reports he was attempting to complete, and found out he had dreamed this whole surreal situation? Brushing back her hair, he smiled slowly at her. "I'll be right downstairs when you wake up, okay? Seems like you know your way around anyway."

"What about the rest of the team? They'll be here tomorrow."

"I guess we'll just have to make introductions. They might be suspicious, but nothing we couldn't handle. Didn't you learn anything traveling with the Doctor? Not everything needs a plan to be successful. We can just wing this one."

Too tired to remind him how often that method of attack had gotten them into trouble, Rose gave him a small smile and pulled the blankets up close to her chin. "Good night, Jack." Within seconds, she had given in to her exhaustion and her breathing evened out, slowing quickly.

Jack intended to go back downstairs and try and catch some sleep in his chair. He needed all possible patience to deal with the team tomorrow. All of his team was suspicious by nature—the fact that they spent their live chasing aliens probably didn't help that—and Jack didn't think any of them were going to accept Rose very easily. Owen, especially, was likely to snap over the presence of an unknown girl. Jack was prepared to a fight; Owen had been testing his authority recently and this might be all he needs to push him over the edge. Which was exactly why Jack should go downstairs and try to rest.

But he couldn't find the strength to leave the doorway or Rose Tyler. She had seemed so sick, obviously in pain she wouldn't admit; what if her condition worsened with sleep, instead of getting better? She said she had traveled between two parallel universes, with God knows what in between, unprotected by a capsule. What if that gave her something close to a concussion and leaving her to sleep would be the opposite of helpful? Jack knew he would never forgive himself if Rose somehow managed to slip into a coma right after he had first found her.

So that was how Jack Harkness found himself in a hard metal chair beside Rose's sleeping form that evening. And why Gwen Cooper was the first member of Torchwood Three to discover Rose Tyler's presence.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hi guys! I am so sorry about taking so long to update this chapter… I guess that's what I get for promising that I would update twice a week! Never bite off more than you can chew, I guess! Anyway, things have been picking up at school so I can't guarantee how often I'll be updating… I'm going to try for once a week, though. Tell me what you think of this chapter!**

Chapter 5

Things were better at home than they were at work for Gwen Cooper. This was honestly the first time she had been able to say that since she started working at Torchwood and had to start keeping secrets from her long-time boyfriend, Rhys. But the weight of the affair she had with Owen didn't sit on her chest quite so heavily now that she had told Rhys—more or less. For one shining 24 hour period, she had thought that life at both home and work could work out beautifully.

That was before Jack and Tosh had ended up in 1941. Before Ianto had shot Owen. Before Owen had opened the Rift to get them back. Before the irritation between Owen and Jack had turned more towards outright animosity.

Today, Gwen was just hoping to make it through work without any direct fights between coworkers. She could count on Tosh to try and keep Owen subdued, and hopefully Jack had more sense than to push at Owen's buttons. Ianto was always the safe bet, the member of Torchwood that preferred to stay in the background more. Or, at least, that's where he always was.

As the large vault door opened to the Hub, Gwen called out a greeting to Jack. It was early, just after 07:30, and Gwen was hoping to catch Jack by himself before the rest of the team got here. Though he had never directly told anyone, it was fairly obvious that Jack lived in the Hub. Talking to Jack alone only required showing up at odd times and hoping he was in a good mood, which he almost always was around Gwen.

There was no answer to her call so Gwen headed up the stairs towards Jack's office. More than likely, Jack was still asleep, sprawled out under the sheets in only his undershirt. Gwen wouldn't lie: that seemed like an excellent position to find him in.

That conjured up image wasn't what she found, though. In fact, Gwen was so distracted by Jack's head falling backwards over the back of a chair—that was going to be painful when he woke up—that she didn't even notice the blonde head on the bed. She had walked forward several steps, prepared to tease Jack over falling asleep fully clothed and in a chair of all things, when the sheets moved and let out a small groan.

Both Gwen and Jack startled at the noise, though they moved in opposite directions. Gwen jumped back, towards the door, while Jack's hands automatically went to the figure Gwen could quite obviously see now. Gwen watched as Jack gently brushed the hair back from the woman's face, murmuring soothing words until she settled back into a sound sleep. The blonde was never awake, but whatever dream she was having sure wasn't pleasant.

"She's injured, but she wouldn't let me examine her last night," Jack stated clearly, acknowledging Gwen for the first time, though he did not look away from the sleeping figure or remove his hand. "She needs our help."

He said the words with such a tender caress that Gwen knew that he had not met this girl last night. Surely, Captain Jack Harkness was known for sex and flirting, but that wasn't the way someone talked about a shag. If Jack had spent the previous evening shagging this girl, he would be spooned up against her—and not here. No one was allowed in the Hub except for members of Torchwood. Any random civilian who was unlucky enough to stumble their way into their world found themselves RetConned, something Gwen imagined had to happen to this girl now.

"Who is she?"

"One of my very best friends. I thought she had died."

Well, that was new. Jack never shared anything about his past. In fact, that was a point that Owen always had against Jack: how could they trust their commander if they had no idea who he was or where he came from? But who was this girl, then? Someone he grew up with, someone he met along the way? A friend, a lover? How exactly had he lost her?

Still, to be given the title of "best friend" by Jack Harkness seemed to say enough. Though he was close with the entire team—some more than others—Gwen didn't think that any of them would count as Jack's best friends.

"What's her name?" Gwen's voice was gentle, almost showing a maternal instinct. Jack smiled a little, rubbing a hand over his face. For the sakes of all involved, Jack was glad it was Gwen who had found them first this morning. Owen would have thrown a fit over the presence of an unknown girl within the Hub; both Ianto and Tosh would have been disapproving, but were too used to protocol to question anything Jack did. It was Gwen, though, who would push the boundaries. Knew Jack well enough to get a little deeper than anyone else did, but polite enough not to demand the information.

Jack turned away from Rose and looked back towards Gwen, giving her a small smile. "Gwen, meet Rose Tyler. We... traveled together a long time ago."

Gwen gave her a quick once over. "She is… human, right?" Jack just raised his eyebrows and gave her a smirk. "Yeah, well, you never know with you. I never would have questioned that before this job."

Jack gave a large sigh and turned around, completely facing Gwen now. A new smile filled his features and Gwen could tell he was officially changing subjects. This was all she was going to learn about Rose for the moment. Maybe when the girl woke up Gwen could question her…

"You're here rather early, Miss Cooper. Was there something you wanted to talk about?" Jack pushed up from the chair and out of the room entirely, moving towards where his desk was. Gwen followed close behind, but stopped at the threshold, watching Jack settle into the chair and kick his feet up on the desk.

"Owen, originally. But that all seems a bit of a moot point now."

Jack let out a sigh. "Rose won't cause a disturbance. She knows what we do. I haven't been able to hear her whole story—yet—but she knows all about aliens. In fact, I'm sure she's been involved in stopping some of the previous invasions." When Gwen didn't answer, Jack continued. "She's injured in ways I can't determine yet and she needs my help. I don't know how long she'll be staying or if she'll continue to stay in the Hub. I won't let her go out in the field with us, but she can be of help to us in here. Gwen, you can put your eyebrow down. Your facial muscles shouldn't get that much exercise in one day."

"Jack, I just don't know how the rest of the team will react to this and Owen has been on edge for weeks…"

"Gwen, please." Jack got up from the chair, walked over to Gwen, and put his hands on either sides of Gwen's face. "Trust me. If you never trust me again or never obey another order, please. Let me keep Rose Tyler safe. She means so much to so many people. I need to keep her safe."

His voice had gotten deeper, pleading, as he continued. His face was so desperate; Gwen could almost understand the need he had to protect this girl. When she nodded, Jack's face cleared, just a bit. A new emotion filled it as his eyes drifted down Gwen's face, lingering on her lips for just a second. When his eyes met her again, they were full of longing. The tension that Gwen had begun to notice and crave returned. For just a second, one shining second, Gwen thought he might actually kiss her.

But then the vault door started screeching open and Jack pulled back, stalking out of the room before Gwen could compose herself.

She knew she should follow Jack down the stairs, greet whoever had just arrived and start her day. Curiosity got the better of her, though, and Gwen wandered back to where Rose was still sleeping. Even in sleep, her eyes were clenched shut as if in pain. Blonde bangs had fallen back into her eyes since Jack had pushed the hair back earlier. She looked exhausted, sure, but Gwen could tell she was beautiful.

"Who are you?" Gwen whispered so silently she doubted Rose would have heard her words if she was awake. "And how did you ever meet Jack?"

Gwen had stayed quiet about Rose so far. When Jack had first come downstairs after talking to her, he worried that, even though she agreed with him that Rose should stay with Jack, Gwen would immediately start talking about the visitor to the other employees. But she had only followed down the stairs a few minutes after Jack had, greeted Ianto, and started her work. Tosh had given them all a warm greeting when she arrived twenty minutes later, and even Owen kept the complains about his injured shoulder to a minimum when he arrived.

But Jack still had yet to tell them about Rose.

How should he approach the subject? _Oh yeah, guys, there's an unconscious blonde upstairs who will be staying with us for a while. Sorry, turns out she's proclaimed dead in this universe so we really can't send her out onto the streets._

Yeah, that would go over so well.

He wasn't sure if the best plan was to wait until Rose woke up—she still hadn't yet, and it was almost 11:00—to introduce her to the team or to mention her to the team before she awoke.

Of course, Jack realized a few hours into the day, that this would be the perfect time for Owen to examine Rose. All he had to do was say she was injured and an old friend, would Owen mind giving her a thorough examine, pretty please? How was she injured, you ask? Would you believe she was jumping from one parallel earth to another one last night?

Jack was edgy all day and everyone knew. Ianto had practically refused to give him coffee since he was already jumping at the slightest noise. Only Gwen knew that he kept looking up towards the office to see if there were any signs of a certain blonde stirring. Aliens and rift activity—which was expanding today, thanks to Owen's stupid stunt with the rift—be damned. Jack Harkness wanted Rose Tyler alive and well.

Which was why he had sneaked upstairs five times in the past three hours.

He had checked her blankets, even added another one when it seemed like her internal body temperature was dropping. She had been restless while sleeping: her hair could attest to that. Sometimes her breathing would seem ragged or labored, but then it would even out just before Jack was about to cave and desperately convince Owen to look at her.

13:00.

14:00.

15:00.

Rose still wasn't awake.

Jack knew that he hadn't arrived in this universe until about 02:30 and wasn't asleep until about 03:30, so he wasn't worried at noon. But hour after hour passed by and Jack was beginning to go crazy. When Tosh had questioned at one point if Jack was alright when she caught him staring upstairs, absent mindedly tapping out a four beat rhythm against his desk. Gwen had given him a meaningful look when he had answered with a standard "just fine."

It was about 16:30 when Owen finally slammed down the file he was carrying onto Jack's desk. "Are you going to bloody tell us what's on? Because if it's more problems with the rift, then you need to tell us so we can do our jobs!"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Gwen spoke first. "Owen, you don't need to shout. If there was something wrong, Jack would tell us. Wouldn't you, Jack?"

Owen whipped back around, looking at Jack with almost a predatory glare. "Would you, Jack? Would you trust your team enough with any information about you or would you prefer to remain the lonely god who can solve all the problems on his own?"

Part of Jack wanted to stand up and face Owen head on, make him eat those words. But it had been a long day, with all the emotion of the past few days dragging up all kinds of memories he didn't want to think about and the worry of Rose, and Jack simply felt drained. Jack tried to maintain an even voice when he said, "We have been monitoring the rift all day, Owen. You're just as aware of any problems as I am. Yes, there is something on my mind, but it isn't Torchwood related."

Owen wasn't done, though. "Are you sure? Nothing in this building is bothering you right now? Because you have been skittish this whole day, watching our every move, hurrying in and out of your office all day long. If there is something you should share with us, Captain, then maybe right now would be a good time to start talking."

As Owen was spitting out his last two sentences, Jack noticed something over his shoulder. Rose had finally decided to join the world of the living—Jack let out a small breath he had been subconsciously holding—and was standing just outside the office. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her face was lacking make-up, but her eyes held the old sense of determination.

Time for stalling had ended. Jack smiled and gestured towards where Rose was standing. "It would probably be easier just to show you. Owen, Toshiko, Ianto, Gwen… I'd like you to meet Rose Tyler. Rose, I'd like you to meet Torchwood Three."

While the entire team turned to stare at the girl, Rose gave a wave and a simple hello.

Silence lasted for a good ten seconds before Owen turned back to the captain calmly sitting behind his desk.

"What the hell?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I want to say thank you to all the fabulous readers who have been reviewing, favoriting, or following! I feed off of your reviews... so more probably would encourage me to write faster ;) so please review!**

Chapter 6

Rose had awoken to the sounds of voices below her. It was hard for her to determine how long she had been asleep—had the members of Torchwood Three just gotten there or were they closer to leaving?—but her stiff muscles suggested she had slept so much longer than she had intended to. Jack was most likely worried about her, torn between waking her up to make sure she wasn't slipping into a coma and making sure not to disturb her sleep.

Sitting up, Rose felt around for her bag. Her hair was guaranteed to be in knots and her clothes were wrinkled, not exactly the first impressions she wanted to give to Jack's team. Of course, being Jack's, the room didn't have a mirror; there was no way to double check her appearance was anything above monstrous. Thankfully, Rose's lungs had lost the crushed feeling they had last night; it was easier to breathe and the urge to cough wasn't so prominent. Though, Rose was unhappy to note, it still hurt her muscles to raise her arms above her head when she went to pull her hair into a ponytail. She sighed. Not everything could be fixed in an evening. Her head was still stinging as well.

Now, Rose wasn't sure what to do. Had Jack told his team about her? For all she knew, the entire Torchwood team had been parading through this room today, taking turns to stare at the freak that Jack had brought home. Rose laid back on the bed, hands behind her head, as she thought about the life her captain was leading now.

It had been too much to think about last night, but Jack had told her how long he'd been on the earth. He hadn't died on the Gamestation, like Rose had thought; he had gone back to the 1800s somehow. He didn't look any older, much like Rose. That meant whatever had affected her had affected Jack as well.

It was her, Rose knew it was. Something had happened when had taken the vortex into her head. The Doctor had never told Rose and she had no memories of the time, but there wasn't another logical explanation. The time vortex was the only thing powerful enough to cause this kind of long-lasting effects.

Rose let out a sigh. She needed to talk to Jack, pronto.

There was movement and gentle talking downstairs, so Rose moved closer to the door, trying to hear what they were saying. If there was any discussion of her, then Rose could feel free to come out and greet them. Otherwise, she would have to try and get Jack's attention

separately.

Rose knew it was her imagination, but she thought for sure she heard the gentle voice of Toshiko Sato, one of her most beloved friends and her former computer genius at Torchwood. It must be the building, Rose decided. Tosh's voice fits in this building: that's why she heard it. Owen's voice joined in too, being a typical arse, moaning about too much stress while claiming to be superior at the same time. Rose sighed, letting her head fall back against the glass. If only it was actually her team on the other side of this door.

But then there was a large _slam_ noise and Owen's voice got louder, harsher.

"Are you going to bloody tell us what's on? Because if it's more problems with the rift, then you need to tell us so we can do our jobs!"

Rose started. Her Owen had never said anything like that so it couldn't be her memory. Rose began to hope; if the multiverse could have a Mickey and a Rickey, two Petes and two

Jackies, could Torchwood have another Owen, another Tosh and another Ianto?

She started inching towards the door, still a floor above where the conversation was occurring, to hear well. Owen always had a thing against authority; presumably, then, Owen was yelling at Jack, even though it was a different female voice who answered in a reassuring tone.

"Would you trust your team enough with any information about you or would you prefer to remain the lonely god who can solve all the problems on his own?" Rose winced at Owen's next words. That wasn't the Jack Harkness she knew. Anything Jack kept from his team was because it was simply too painful to think about. It was the same thing the Doctor did…

It was the same thing Rose did.

She stood up while Jack was replying, walking forward so that Jack would be able to see her. Tosh and Gwen were focused on Jack, facing away from Rose, so they didn't see the movement, but Ianto caught Rose moving forward. Both parties turned and stared, in bewilderment for completely different reasons. Ianto because there was a woman he had never seen before inside of Torchwood; Rose because she was seeing the face of a long lost friend, someone she thought she would never see again. Owen's next yell turned Rose's head back towards him and Jack caught Rose's eye, smiling slightly.

When Owen demanded that Jack share whatever was bothering him, Jack relaxed slightly, looking like a man back in control of the situation. "It would probably be easier just to show you. Owen, Toshiko, Ianto, Gwen… I'd like you to meet Rose Tyler. Rose, I'd like you to meet Torchwood Three."

Three new pairs of eyes joined Ianto in staring. Feeling more than a bit awkward—Rose never enjoyed being the center of attention—Rose gave a small wave and a hello, meeting Tosh's confused stare. Rose _knew_ it was a different person, someone who had lead a completely different life than her Toshiko Sato, but it still hurt to have such a close friend look at her like a stranger.

"What the hell?"

Trust Owen to break silence with cussing. Rose could almost laugh at the situation.

Owen had turned back to glare at Jack, though Jack was meeting his gaze evenly now, but the rest of the team hadn't turned away from Rose. _Well, I suppose I'll have to take the first step_, Rose thought to herself.

"I kinda fell onto Jack's doorstep last night. I didn't mean to invade Torchwood or upset the balance or anything. This probably breaks a million protocols, I know. Sorry, Ianto, I know you're a rules man." She smiled, before realizing her mistake. Everyone in the room—Jack included—was staring at her, wondering how she knew that. _Oh well, _she thought. _Nothing I can do now._

"Right, so, I need something to make you trust me, yeah? Judging by Owen's most recent shouting match, a reference from Jack isn't going to cut it." Rose hadn't thought about this. She a total stranger to them who was breaking every rule Jack had ever taught them. How could she get them to trust her?

"Rose Tyler?" When Ianto spoke, Rose thought for one glorious second that somehow he knew. He remembered how close they had been in that parallel world, how his kids had called her Auntie Rosie at his instruction, how he knew exactly how she liked her coffee. When she looked at him, though, his face wasn't fond, thinking of old memories; his face was accusatory. He was saying "Rose Tyler" as a threat. Rose's face went slack when he reached for his gun, too shocked to even put her hands up.

"Ianto! You don't need to pull a gun on her!" Jack had sat up straight but otherwise made no move to protect Rose from his coworker.

"But, sir, we're under orders. Dame Rose Tyler, to be arrested on sight." When Ianto only received blank looks from Tosh, Owen and Gwen, he sighed. "I cannot be the only one who reads the manuals."

Owen muttered something unintelligible, most likely an insult, but Jack only laughed. Suddenly looking lighter, Jack bounded over to Ianto, removing the gun from his hands. Though Ianto looked confused, he didn't fight, a questioning look in his eyes. "Sir?"

Jack walked over to Rose, then, who had starting putting the pieces together. "You have orders to arrest me? Honestly? I knew I was banished, but, come on!"

Before Jack could respond, Owen's temper got the best of him again. "Is anyone going to explain what is going on?"

"The story of how Torchwood was founded. Two weary travelers," Rose smirked at Jack's description, "Found themselves in Scotland one day. They fought a monster—something we would call a werewolf, though one of the travelers had a much more scientific name for it—with Queen Victoria. For ensuring the Queen's survival, both the travelers were knighted. But for spending their lives flirting with demons and evil-not to mention each other-the Queen felt it was imperative that she banish the travelers from her empire. Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate. They were the reason Queen Victoria founded Torchwood."

Rose had figured it out, of course. That was the name of the house they had stayed at; it only made sense the organization was created to fight monsters like that werewolf. She and the Doctor had been the creators of their separation. She fought off a grimace as she faced the Torchwood team.

"I was banished from my home country a century before I was born… And no one is even going to act impressed? I was hoping for some excitement."

Jack was smiling down at her, looking pleased that he had someone like _his _Rose back again. She knew how to tease, how to make everyone laugh. This was the girl he had wanted to see for a century. She looked at him with that tongue and teeth smile and Jack finally felt whole again. It was like they were just traveling through another time again, ready to head back to the TARDIS when they were done exploring. There would be flirting and fun, movies from the 32nd century over popcorn…

Or just the Hub and Torchwood Three. Owen and Tosh and Ianto and Gwen. The people who were still staring at them. Not the Time Lord who was who knows when with who knows what.

"What exactly does that make you, then? A time traveler?" Owen's tone was sarcastic; Rose knew he wasn't expecting an affirmative. The way his face fell when she nodded her answer was so much like the Owen she knew it was almost too much.

Tosh finally spoke up for the first time since Rose emerged. "You mean time travel is physically possible? Humans will figure out a way to manipulate it?" Her eyes were bright with curiosity, wanting to solve another mystery.

Rose looked at Jack, eyebrows raised. Had he not told that he was in fact a time traveler? That he was born three thousand years in the future? Jack gave her a small look, halfway between guilt and a warning, before focusing back on Tosh.

Rose shook off the strange feeling of Jack's secrecy before flashing Tosh a smile. "First rule of time travel is no spoiling the future. Sorry, Toshiko, I can't tell you if humans have time travel in the future. I happened to snag a ride with a daft old alien passing through London."

"Is that where you met Jack, then?" Gwen was pressing for answers, not about the mysterious blonde, but about her boss. The whole team was curious, of course, about where Jack had come from and this Rose seemed like the best place to get answers.

Rose froze, wishing that she had been able to talk to Jack directly before being interrogated by his team. Obviously they didn't know much about him and there would be a reason why he wanted them in the dark. What could Rose tell them, then, that wasn't a lie but wasn't the whole truth?

"We spent some time in Cardiff together. Granted, I don't think I could ever picture Jack without aliens." Rose gave a short laugh to cover any signs of discomfort, hoping Gwen wouldn't notice she didn't directly answer her question. "We had a small problem with the rift in, was that 2006?"

Jack nodded, a smile breaking out on his face. "You were younger back then. Had a lot less experience."

"At least I still look young. Do I spot a few gray hairs, Captain?" Rose shot back to him, falling into their routine banter with almost no effort.

"Rose, there's no need to offend my good looks simply because you're jealous."

"Jealous? Of-"

"Is this really necessary? You two can flirt when I'm gone, thank you very much," Owen cut into their banter. He was shrugging out of his lab coat, indicating to Rose that it was much later in the day than she had thought if he was getting ready to leave. "What do you plan on doing with her?"

Rose gave a little snort. "_Her_ is right here, thank you."

"That would mainly be up to Rose, of course." Jack coolly responded. "She'll be for at least a few days until plans get settled. If Rose is planning on staying in the area long, then she would make an excellent addition to the team. She knows more than enough about aliens and the rift. We'll talk tonight and have a plan for you guys tomorrow. Sound like a plan, Rosie?" He had been addressing the team for most of the speech, but he turned back to Rose as he finished, smiling hopefully.

"We'll talk, Jack." Rose really needed a few hours to reconnect with Jack. She wanted to talk to himabout all that had happened; she wanted to know about the life he was living on this earth, if he had seen any signs of the Doctor is current history. She wanted to get all the stress of the past few years off her chest.

"You can't just expect us to leave a complete stranger in the middle of Torchwood! You're the only one who knows to trust her, Jack, and you haven't seen her for years! How do you know you can trust her?"

Jack took a long second to look between Owen and Rose. He looked almost calculating, and for one horrifying second, Rose thought Jack might be listening to Owen. What would she do if Jack wouldn't trust her?

"Owen, this woman is one of the most important people in my life. Maybe we didn't know each other very long, and its been a very long time since we've seen each other, but that in no way means I wouldn't trust her. I think I would know if Rose Tyler had been replaced by an alien in her form, trying to infiltrate Torchwood. I trust her, and so should you." Jack's eyes moved from Owen's to address the rest of the team. "And that should go for the rest of you as well."

"But Ianto said himself! We're under direct orders to arrest her!" Owen was, apparently, in no mood to simply agree with Jack. "She's an enemy of the state!"

"Owen, yes, I was banished by Queen Victoria, but that doesn't make me an enemy of the state. Check my records, I wasn't born until the 1980s. I died in the Battle of Canary Wharf. When I met Queen Victoria in 1879, she just couldn't understand the life I led. I was from the future, one she didn't understand. That's the reason I was banished. Besides, an enemy of the state? Torchwood One didn't seem to think that when I showed up at Canary Wharf."

The entire team stared for just a second. Owen, of course, was the one to continue. "You were at Canary Wharf? And you survived?"

Rose gave a small smile. "Not officially, no."

Jack cleared his throat. "Enough proof for everyone? Good. Now why don't you all go home, get some rest. Rose and I need to talk, discuss what's going to happen. Also, it's likely we'll be having trouble with the rift for awhile. We need to be on high alert. Be here early."

There was a small chorus of yes's as the team each turned to their stations. Even Owen didn't make eye contact as he headed back to autopsy to gather his things. Gwen was the only one brave enough to glance towards Jack and Rose, contemplating the distance between them and what their relationship really was like.

One by one, Torchwood Three left the building, muttering small forms of goodbye, clearly not wanting to be under Jack's anger anytime soon. Owen, surprisingly, was the first to leave. Rose thought for sure he would say and continue the fight. It was Ianto who was the last to leave, hurting Rose unintentionally when he called her Ms. Tyler.

They were finally alone, Rose and Jack. They didn't feel the need to start talking right away, though. For several minutes, silence stretched on between them as each thought about where to start. Did they start the last time they saw each other? Or did they start with last night when Rose fell through the sky into Jack's life again? Either way, they couldn't put off any awkward feeling between them now.

"Well, Miss Tyler. I believe you have some explanations for me? Start with, of course, why Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate was described as 'naked' in the official report at the Torchwood house." He gave her a cheeky grin and Rose felt right at home. This was Jack she was talking to. She had her best friend back; everything was going to be fine.

She knew she could handle anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rose found herself sitting on a couch while Jack went to grab food, though Rose wasn't sure what could pass for food around this Torchwood. Cautiously, she reached forward to grab a manila folder sitting on the table in front of her. Inside was a random mission report, filed by Tosh, from about two weeks ago. All it was missing was Jack's signature before it could be properly filed.

Putting the folder back, Rose sighed. She had missed this and hadn't even known to admit it to herself. The longing was bad enough that paperwork was making her nostalgic for her old job. But was it the job she was actually longing for? Or was it just the feeling of control and comfort she had while running Torchwood Three? Not that Rose was a controlling person—she tried her hardest to be fair to her team while maintaining control—it was just that Torchwood had been her last stable place to survive without constantly looking over her shoulder. She sighed again.

"You sure you're actually in this universe, Rosie?" Jack reentered the room, somehow managing to carry two plates of reheated (pizza stacked on top of each other) in his left hand and two cups of coffee in his right hand.

"Enough in this universe to know your juggling act shouldn't be possible. Did you learn telekinesis since the last time I've seen you?" Rose responded cheekily, wiping all traces of introspection off her face.

"I've always been telekinetic, I just haven't wanted to show off," Jack responded easily, taking a seat next to her after placing a plate and a mug before her.

"Now that's a lie if I've ever heard one. You'd never pass up an opportunity to show off, Captain."

The smirk on his face threw her memory back through their timeline together: Slitheen and chips and Daleks. Gas mask children and dancing to Glenn Miller next to Big Ben. But harsh reality stole her and brought her back to the present, to the dank basement feel of Torchwood. She just wanted to have one day where they could pretend nothing had ever separated them; they could spend the day being cheeky and slightly flirtatious, waiting until the Doctor walked into the room with a raised eyebrow before they would even considering acting their age. But it wasn't possible to recreate the past. As they looked at each other, they both knew it wasn't possible to recreate the past, and the smiles sliding from their faces.

Jack turned away from her, slightly hunching his shoulders forward. "I meant what I told the team earlier. I expect trouble from the rift starting soon. This will be the only chance we get to really talk for a while. I don't know what will happen if the rift starts to splinter, but it won't be good. So, Rose, any true catching up will need to be done within the next few hours."

"I don't know where to start."

"Me either." Jack sighed and leaned back, putting one arm behind his head and the other around Rose, pulling her closer. "Just tell me a fact. A random fact about your life since you last saw me, and I'll do the same. We'll go back and forth."

"My Torchwood was cleaner than yours. Though Torchwood Three in my universe hasn't been operational in years."

"I had to hide in this base when we were visiting Cardiff with the Doctor. Couldn't risk running into myself."

"I went to the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics after making sure the entire audience wasn't absorbed by a lonely alien."

"I went back to your Estate a few times in the 90s. Never said hello, just wanted to know you were safe, somewhere."

"I have a little brother in that parallel universe. Name's Tony."

"I can't die."

"I haven't aged since the last time I saw you."

"Any idea what caused that?" Jack gently prodded Rose in the shoulder. Rose knew this was coming, the serious part of the conversation they logically couldn't avoid. She turned to look at Jack, thinking his last statement over, thinking about what it meant.

"You say that like you know first-hand."

"Mainly because I've experienced it first-hand. More than a few times, Rosie. I've been through both World Wars now. When I die, there's nothing for a bit, and then I come back, fresh as I was beforehand. There isn't any recovery time after that."

Rose's eyes started filling up with tears at the way he said that, like dying was nothing to him. "Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry."

Jack gave a little half snort. "It isn't your fault, Rose. You don't need to worry about me; I can handle myself."

Leaning forward, elbows on her knees, Rose shuddered slightly, ignoring the fact that her tear ducts had chosen this moment to start working again. She thought she had cried all the tears she had been allotted for life; even on the days that seemed like too much, Rose hadn't cried since the day she had been forced to leave her family, all those years ago. She refused to cry now.

"Don't you see, Jack? It is my fault. I _did_ this to you!"

Jack was startled, wondering what she meant. When he died on the Gamestation, Rose Tyler was safe in London, hundreds of thousands of years away. The Doctor had said so himself—she was gone, she was safe. She wasn't involved.

He leaned forward, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to coax her into explaining her thoughts. "Rosie, you couldn't have done that. You weren't there; the Doctor said he sent you home. You can't blame yourself just because you couldn't stop what happened."

Rose took a deep breath, though it sounded more than a bit shaky. "Yeah, he did send me away, but I had the TARDIS. And there was no way I was going to sit there, eating chips with Mickey and Mum, while you and the Doctor burned with Daleks. So I…I came up with a plan." She leaned back then, turning her face towards Jack and letting him put his arm around her shoulder again. Rose could feel tears right behind her eyes, waiting to flood down her cheeks, so she talked faster. She told Jack about seeing "Bad Wolf" written all over, how she knew she could get back to the Doctor, how she _needed_ to get back to the Doctor. She reminded Jack of the incident they had with Margaret right here in Cardiff and about the heart of the TARDIS. She explained how Mickey's car just wasn't enough power to break open the panel, no matter how hard they tried. Finally, she got to the big yellow truck that would save the universe and how the TARDIS console opened, just enough for Rose to see into the heart…

"And that's all I remember. There's this singing filling that spot in my memory… Like something is intentionally covering up what I did. Who knows, maybe it's my own brain covering up the memories. They could be too horrid for me to want to think about."

Surprised wasn't the word Jack would use to describe how he was feeling. No, he had always known Rose would be heartbreakingly loyal to anyone she loved. But to abandon her mother and Mickey, knowing there was a good chance she wouldn't survive an encounter with the Daleks? It only proved to Jack how much the Doctor and Rose loved each other, even if they couldn't admit it to anyone. Jack was lost in that thought before it hit him: Rose had taken the vortex into her head. That had been enough power to reverse a Slitheen back into an egg and, yet, here Rose was, perfectly fine!

Jack grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "How did you survive? Rose, you saw what the vortex did to that Slitheen! Did you even stop to consider the damage that would do to you if you tried to control it?"

The first tear escaped Rose's eye then, before she angrily swept it away. When she spoke again, she spoke quietly. "I don't think it hurt me. I think it did the opposite."

With that, Jack understood. He dropped his hold on her and fell back onto the arm of the sofa, looking at her, a deep look on concentration on his face. The time vortex: the essential backbone to everything in the universe, carrying the weight of time. Surely, if someone were to access it, practically become a part of the vortex, then that gift of time could be theirs to give. After all, that's exactly what Jack Harkness—and Rose Tyler, if what she said about not aging was correct—had. They had time, almost an unlimited amount. Jack remembered the Doctor casually remarking that life was nature's way of keeping meat fresh, how it was nothing for a nanogene to restore…

If life was nothing for a nanogene to restore, then there would be nothing in the universe stopping the vortex from bringing a man back to life. Especially if someone was controlling it, someone who loved the person who had died, someone who didn't want that person dead.

Rose couldn't stand the look on Jack's face. He hadn't said anything since her last comment, but she could tell he knew what she was implying. Rose Tyler was the one who had cursed him to never die. She was the one had forced him to die over and over again—to be shot or stabbed or electrocuted, who knows—for over one hundred years. Was there anyway Jack could not hate her for this?

"Say something, please," she pleaded with him when his blank face had become too much to look at.

"You think you did this to me, don't you?" His voice wasn't entirely steady, not like he was going to cry, but like he hadn't quite grasped the situation yet. Or maybe, Rose thought, he was just suppressing anger. This was just the calm before the storm. More tears gathered as Rose was forced to look at one of her best friends and admit that she had done this. _Yes_, Rose though as she nodded, _I ruined your life. It was me, right here. I might be worth fighting for, but I'm not worth this much, am I, Jack?_

But then Rose was suddenly wrapped in Jack's large arms; he hugged her as if she had given him a great blessing, not a great curse. He was murmuring comforting words to her against her head, assuring her that he wouldn't blame her for any of it, and can't she see how she hadn't damned him? Rose sat in the comfort of his arms for a minute, but soon it became too suffocating. Not only were Jack's arms beginning to cut off her ability to breathe easily, but his words were choking out her ability to think. His promises drowned her in her thoughts and the protective dam she had built was showing signs of stress. His words cut off her breath, as the emotions surged past the cracks in her mental barrier, flooding her subconscious.

Rose pushed Jack's arm off of her and pushed herself off the couch. Jack's arms were still up in the air, holding a Rose who wasn't there anymore, when she started pacing the room. Her steps were pounding; the pattern she was making didn't seem to follow any certain path. Jack was almost positive that Rose wasn't aware which direction she was moving, only aware that she needed to blow off steam. The emotion on her face seemed a strange mixture of hurt and anger and guilt. He watched her pace for several minutes, letting her gather her thoughts, before she turned to him and opened her mouth. It looked like she was trying to force words out, but just couldn't quite make them come.

"Rosie? It's okay, whatever it is. Just say what you need to."

"How can you forgive me so easily? Jack, you just finished telling me that you've died so many times. I'm the reason you wake up afterwards. I'm the reason that when all your comrades were falling down beside you in the trenches, you couldn't join them. I'm the one who has made your life so terribly unfair because you can't let yourself fall too hard for any one person, because they're so extremely fragile and you're not."

Jack sighed, unsure of where he should start his answer. Because she was spot on with those descriptions, about how much it had hurt over the years to lose everyone he had ever cared for. But to be mad at her? Jack couldn't even fathom it.

"Rose, I couldn't be mad at you. Don't you see? You don't remember doing this to me. You don't remember the vortex inside your head… That would mean that everything you did was on instinct. You saw me or you felt me dead, somehow, when you got to that Gamestation and you knew you didn't want me dead. Rose, you brought me back out of love, not out of malice or a desire for me to live forever. So my question is: why in the world would you still feel guilty about this?"

Rose looked at him again, looking guilty, her eyes aged beyond the rest of her face. "Oh, Jack, making you immortal isn't the only thing I did."

Jack stood, joining her in the middle of the room. "Rose, from what I can understand, you must have saved the day, because when I woke up all the Daleks were dead and the TARDIS was leaving. What else could you possibly be feeling guilty for?"

Watery eyes and a watery voice answered him. "Oh, Jack… Then I killed the Doctor."

**AN: Thank you all for reviewing, following, or even just reading! The next chapter we _finally_ see the Doctor again and all my non-Torchwood readers will again be familiar with the plot lines :) Please take a second to review... Reviews feed my muse! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: And, as promised, The Doctor! Also, I wanted to thank my amazing readers and a fantastic lamdmark... 50 reviews! Thank you! :D**

* * *

Chapter 8

The TARDIS had been sluggish since the Doctor had gotten her back from the Weeping Angels. The last two trips the Doctor had attempted turned out at least two centuries off from the intended target. Which, no matter what Martha said, only landed them in the middle of a thriving revolution once. That means fifty percent of those trips, not all of them. The Doctor had tried basic maintenance around the TARDIS, cleaning the column and switching out a few parts that he probably should have replaced two centuries earlier, but she was still struggling.

Sighing, the Doctor fell into the jump seat. Probably the best option would be to take her to Cardiff and feed off the rift energy there, giving the ship back any energy the angels had managed to steal from her. Cardiff was just so… emotional for the Doctor, especially without Rose.

Twice they had been to Cardiff in his last body, once with Charles Dickens and once with Mickey and the Captain. That first time with Charles Dickens, when they thought they were going to die, that was the moment that the Doctor was forced to admit his feelings for his blonde companion. He may have only known her a short time then, but he knew for a fact he cared more if Rose Tyler escaped that basement than he did. He refused to put a name on the affection, as he was still reluctant to do today, but that was the moment that Rose Tyler had officially become the center of his universe.

The TARDIS groaned, not in her usual way, and the Doctor knew he was forced to face Cardiff. He could handle an hour in the boring city. Martha wouldn't want to go explore somewhere she could have taken a bus to before she met him. Pop in, gather the energy, make the TARDIS feel better, get out.

Easy.

As Martha walked into the console room, the Doctor was already at the rotor, hands moving in practiced movements, a maniac smile at the ready.

At the sound of the engines landing, Martha grinned, too. "Where are we?"

"Cardiff."

Only the Doctor could be so excited about visiting Cardiff, Martha mused internally as she questioned, "Cardiff?"

"Ah, but the thing about Cardiff is that it's built on a rift in time and space." The maniac energy the Doctor put into his voice was the only thing forcing him out of a sour mood. "Just like California and the San Andreas Fault. The rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."

"So it's a pit stop," Martha dead-panned. And she had been promised all of time and space.

"Exactly!" The energy fell quickly, though, as he read the monitor. "Should only take thirty seconds." _Strange._ "The rift's been active."

"Wait a minute," Martha said. "They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?"

"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen. Long time ago. Lifetimes. I was a different man back then." The Doctor only half-way paid attention to the answer he gave Martha. Who could have been messing with the rift again?

Just as the TARDIS was finishing filling up, the Doctor glanced at the monitor again. The sight that greeted him, right outside the TARDIS, was one of the most terrifying things the Doctor had ever seen. No, it wasn't the emperor of the Daleks or the Family of Blood reincarnate. It was Captain Jack Harkness, alive and well, running straight towards the TARDIS.

If there was one thing the Doctor didn't do well, it was face the past. It had been bad enough when Rose had met Sarah Jane Smith. But Jack? The man who Rose had saved too much and the Doctor had abandoned?

He couldn't face that.

The Doctor pulled the last lever, causing the TARDIS to dematerialize.

If this was a movie, crickets would be chirping. That much Jack was sure of. Or it might be complete silence, forcing the audience could stare right along with Jack, shocked and confused and angry at the turn of events.

Rose Tyler had killed the Doctor? Rose Tyler would chance never seeing her family again to save the Doctor, take control of the TARDIS, travel over a hundred thousand years in the future simply to kill the man she loves, the one she came to save? Jack shook his head; there was no way that made sense.

"I don't believe that for a second, Rose Tyler. You two had not met Queen Victoria when I met you; I would have heard about that. Do not try to tell me that Canary Wharf had happened in your timeline already." Jack got up to meet Rose's pacing, grabbing either side of her face as he watched tears meander down her cheeks. "You love that man. I didn't travel with you very long, but I didn't need to set foot on the TARDIS to see how much you loved that old Time Lord. And to see how he was terrified of you because of the way you made him feel. You can't tell me you killed the Doctor, Rose. Nothing you say will ever make me believe it."

Rose shut her eyes tightly for a second, attempting to stop the flow of tears. "It's… complicated." As it always was with the Time Lord. "I said that wrong. The Doctor himself isn't dead. But the man you knew with big ears and a leather jacket? He died that day because of me."

"You're losing me, Rosie."

Rose sighed. How did she explain watching the man she loved explode into a ball of light as he transformed into a new man? A man who was younger, more energetic and so much more affectionate? Luckily, if anyone was going to believe her without seeing it, Jack Harkness just might be the man.

"Any chance that in your travels you ever heard of regeneration? Or maybe it's just a Time Lord thing, who knows." Rose's words started coming faster and faster as the last image of her first Doctor stayed danced in front of her eyes. "When they—Time Lords, that is—get close to death, they can change… everything. The way they look and think and act. Every cell in their body changes so that they can live a while longer, making them that much closer to being immortal. Living forever. The curse of the Time Lords." Her words started falling off, Rose's energy going down with the volume. Suddenly, she felt if she didn't sit down soon she would collapse. Jack must have sensed her need because he helped her over to the couch, concern etched onto his features.

"Rose, you're pale. Are you alright?" When Rose took a second to respond, Jack reached for her face again, staring into her eyes that were losing focus. Rose shook her head to clear it, determined to stay in the present and finish the conversation.

"Just a bit of a dizzy spell. Sitting will help, yeah?"

Jack nodded, serious. "Go on, then. Regeneration, it's called?"

"Whole new man. Every single cell in his body turns over. You could have walked past the Doctor a million times in the last hundred years, Jack. You wouldn't have recognized him."

"His new look compare at all to the bad boy look I traveled with? Rose, I've had fantasies about the leather jacket."

Rose couldn't help but smirk. Here she was, trying to discuss a serious topic, and Jack Harkness was trying to make her laugh. Or maybe he had just gotten lost in his Doctor fantasy. Both were logical possibilities. "He looks much younger now. Wears these great pinstriped suits. And his hair. Jack, I've had fantasies about that hair of his." Rose let out a sigh as Jack chuckled.

Jack knew the immediate tension in the room had been broken, but the look on Rose's face wasn't happy. When Jack thought about it, the scenario she described made sense. If Rose had appeared on the Gamestation, carrying the essence of the Time Vortex itself, the Doctor would have stopped at nothing to make sure she was safe. Especially if he knew there was a way he could survive while she couldn't

After a few seconds of silence, Jack reached forward and pulled Rose to his chest, his lips pressing into her hair. She stayed there, quiet as if thinking, but she didn't exactly melt into the embrace either. Even if she wasn't expressing it, Jack imagined that close contact was something that had been sparse in her life recently; he hoped—even if he wasn't the man she really wanted—he was being of comfort and helping her foul mood.

Kissing her hair again, Jack whispered, "It wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for something that was out of your control."

Rose let out a small sob, something she had been keeping in for too long now. She hadn't expected Jack to forgive her—no one had ever forgiven her for this. She turned her head towards Jack, eyes brimming with tears and sorrow, pleading for something, though even Rose couldn't define what it was.

Almost as an automatic response, Jack leaned his head down and kissed her, gently, in a show of comfort. He hated to see Rose in pain, wanted to present her with the Doctor personally, but this was the best he could do for now. As he started to sit back up, Rose reached up, putting her hands around his neck, and threw herself into the kiss. Jack's response was immediate, as it was anytime he was kissed; their lips moved quickly and their tongues clashed.

Part of Rose knew how wrong this was. This man was one of her best friend. Sure, he was Captain Jack "I Flirt Too Much" Harkness; this was probably no big deal to him. But to Rose? She looked at this as a very big deal. there really was no excuse; her emotions were just running too high and it had been too long since she had been able to talk to anyone she really trusted. That's how this all got mixed up.

But how easy it was to imagine he was the Doctor kissing her. If she just kept her eyes closed, she could imagine it was that great chestnut brown, spiked up hair she was running her hands through; surely the Doctor's eyebrows would be raised when she pulled back to breathe and he would apologize for not finishing his sentence on that bloody beach. But when her hands fell to his shoulders, she felt the suspenders there and she snapped back out of her reverie. Jack's head followed her for a second until he, too, pulled back and look at her, a smirk growing on his face.

"See, I knew you always wanted to do that. Ever since I played you Glenn Miller."

Rose's face turned red and she quickly got off the couch, realizing she was practically sitting on his lap. Looking for something to do, she quickly reached for the cup of coffee Jack had poured for her earlier, ignoring the fact it was only lukewarm now. What had come over her? If—no, _when_, she firmly corrected—she met the Doctor again, how would she ever explain accidently snogging Jack Harkness?

Jack couldn't help but laugh; Rose got so flustered over something that was so simple to him. They were best friends, she needed comfort. No big deal. Situation done. Jack had to remind himself she came from a different era and that her heart pretty firmly belonged to the Doctor. Jack needed to keep that in mind, probably retreat back to the "Hands off the Blonde" theory.

He wiped the smile off his face quickly, though, to finish the serious conversation they had started. "But you do understand, don't you, Rosie?" Jack's voice was almost a whisper, surprisingly sensitive for him. "The Doctor wouldn't blame you. I know that. If he did sacrifice himself in order to save you, it's because he loves you and he knows no better way of expressing it than saving your life. I told you once that you were worth fighting for; in the Doctor's mind, you are worth dying for."

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Her throat clogged with fervor at Jack's words. These feelings had been eating away at her for years, ever since she had put the dots together about the Doctor regenerating. By the time she had gathered the courage to present her hypothesis to the Doctor, Rose had been thrown into a parallel universe and doomed only to see him once again. Even if it was Jack acknowledging these feeling now, some weight was lifted off her chest. The guilt wasn't gone, Rose imagined only the Doctor's forgiveness could completely rid her of that, but it was less prominent now.

"Thank you, Jack." Rose gave him a smile, a real smile that brightened her eyes and lifted Jack's spirits.

"Now, Miss Tyler, I know this slice of pizza isn't enough to feed you for the whole day. Would you like to accompany me to dinner?"

"Yes, Jack, I think I would enjoy that. After I try to salvage my appearance. Can I have five minutes?"

"I remember how long it takes you to get ready, Rose. Don't try to give me that 'five minutes' nonsense."

Laughing, Rose headed back up the stairs to where she had left her things. She could hear Jack moving around downstairs and smiled. It had been less than twenty-four hours since she had found Jack again and Rose was still having a hard time believing it. Had she really gone from her half-life in the parallel universe to this feeling of satisfaction and content in under twenty hours?

Only one thing could make this day better.

Sitting on the bed, Rose closed her eyes and pictured the TARDIS. _Doctor, I'm here. Please, please come find me._

Though she knew she should be getting ready, within the five minute time frame that Jack had given her, Rose couldn't pull herself from the image of the TARDIS door opening to reveal the Doctor, tinkering with the console and smiling at her as she walked in. Just as he was pulling a lever, ready to smile and shout "Allons-y!"...

Rose was pulled out of the daydream by the most beautiful sound of the universe. Above the Hub, there was a groaning sound, like a ripping engine.

The engines of the TARDIS.

Dropping any idea of changing her appearance, Rose raced out of the room, shouting for Jack. The Captain was one step ahead of rose, already looking over his shoulder towards her with a grin as he shoved something into a knapsack.

"Coming, Rosie?"

Yes, yes she was. Thinking quickly, Rose grabbed her bag and raced after Jack. He ran maybe 100 yards ahead of her and Rose tried to increase her speed to catch up to him. Even though she had been envisioning this moment for years, Rose suddenly wasn't sure about the first thing she would say to the Doctor, especially with Jack there. _Hello_ didn't quite seem like the right greeting.

When she saw the blue police box, Rose couldn't keep the smile off her face. Had the blue always been that beautiful?

No… Wait. The engines were running again. The TARDIS was fading. Out of surprise, Rose slid to a stop. In an instant, she saw Jack dive towards the dematerializing TARDIS and watched as both disappeared.

Rose was left standing alone in the plaza staring towards the spot where the TARDIS had been.

**Author's Note: Just a warning... I might be skipping next weeks update if the week gets too busy. Darn real life getting in the way of my writing schedule ;) But starting with the next update, Utopia! **

**P.s. Know the most likely way to get me to update next week? Reviewing!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Now, first of all, I'm going to apologize... I did something with this chapter (and the next plenty of chapters) I swore I would never do. I rewrote an episode. But, I swear, things are different and there are reasons I couldn't just summarize the episodes. On the plus side, I was able to post this chapter on schedule (even with my new job!) and this is the longest chapter of this story so far! Welcome to Utopia... Enjoy your stay :)**

Chapter 9

The console sparked and the room shook, throwing Martha and the Doctor flat on their backs.

"What was that?" Martha yelled, frightened over the abrupt take off.

"We're accelerating!" the Doctor's replied anxiously. Staring at the screen, he read off the numbers to Martha. "The year one million, one billion, fifty trillion… What? The year one hundred trillion? That's impossible!"

"Why? What happens then?" even if she could ignore the sparks coming off the console, the look on the Doctor's face told her just how scared she should be of this situation. He looked confused. The Doctor never, ever looked confused.

"We're going to the end of the universe."

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With a giant gasp, Jack clawed his way back into the universe. Back from nothing again… At least this time wasn't a painful death. The time vortex was just a bit… overwhelming. Honestly, how Rose Tyler managed to hold the vortex inside her head for any amount of time…

Rose!

Jack bolted upright, thinking the blonde must be somewhere close. She was right behind him, couldn't have been very far behind. Had he left her there in Cardiff, only meters away from the man she had crossed universes to find, while he ended up… Where even was Jack?

"Breathe deep; I've got you!" A dark-skinned woman was trying to force Jack back, though she was obviously more than frightened by his sudden revival. This was how Jack should always wake up, beautiful woman leaning over him, ready to help at a moment's notice. An unlikely opportunity such as this shouldn't be wasted, of course.

"Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?"

"Martha Jones."

"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones."

"Oh, don't start!"

"I was only saying hello." Jack said, scowling, taking a deep breath before sitting up to look at the Time Lord.

_"He looks much younger now. Wears these great pinstriped suits. And his hair. Jack, I've had fantasies about that hair of his."_

Rose's voice ringed in his ears as he looked at this Doctor. The very same man with a very different face, indeed. Jack stood with assistance from Martha, attempting to ignore the stiffness and pain of his muscles—another nasty side-effect of dying.

"Doctor."

"Captain."

"Good to see you."

"And you. Same as ever. Although… Have you had work done?"

"You can talk!"

The Doctor looked puzzled for a second, before remembering. "Oh, yes, the face! Regeneration! How did you know this was me?"

_You remember Rose Tyler? Yeah, girl you love, stuck in another dimension? Funny story, she's actually back in Cardiff. Can you give me a lift back?_

Not the way he wanted to break the news to the Time Lord.

"Police box kinda gives it away. Doctor… We need to go back." Jack wanted to see the Doctor defend himself for abandoning Jack; Jack wanted to let the Time Lord know just how many times he had died since their last meeting on the Gamestation. But that all could wait because some amount of years in the past or in the future in the middle of Cardiff, there was a blonde who was standing, disappointed and alone, because a blue box had taken two of her best friends to some unknown location. And Jack Harkness never wanted to leave Rose Tyler without any idea where he was again.

"To Cardiff? You must be out of your mind. We're at the end of the universe! The end of time itself and you want to go back to Cardiff?" The Doctor began turning, wanting to explore, wanting to run from Jack and painful reminders of the past.

"There's… something you might want there." Oh, Rose would slap him if she heard that sentence, but Jack had to get the Doctor to listen. Should he come out and tell the Doctor? That the Doctor's favorite blonde in the universe—make that the multiverse—was waiting for him, longing for him?

Nothing Jack said even made the Doctor turn around. "Time machine, Jack. Anything that was there when you left will be there when you return." Martha was looking between the two men, Jack standing his ground while the Doctor sauntered away, attempting to decide who to stay with.

She had made to follow the Doctor when Jack spoke again. "What about Rose?"

That made the Doctor stop in his tracks. Of course Jack would be curious about Rose; they had been close, after all. Maybe—depending on how long Jack had been on earth—he had seen the reports for the Battle of Canary Wharf. Had seen the list of the dead.

Finally, the Doctor turned to face Jack again. "She's not dead."

"I know."

Raising an eyebrow, the Doctor continued to stare at Jack. "She left after you did. You wouldn't know what happened to her."

The correct answer was right there on Jack's tongue. He wanted to tell the Doctor, but it just didn't seem right. How can you tell someone that the woman they love, the woman they thought they had lost, was waiting for them?

You don't.

You let that woman tell her love that she came back to find him.

This was the end of the universe; there couldn't be much here. The Doctor would explore to his heart's content, hop back in the TARDIS, never wanting to see Jack again, but Jack would convince him to stay for something that was important to him… And Jack could reunite the Doctor and his Rose.

"You wouldn't let her die." Jack whispered. "You would have kept her safe at any cost." Jack knew this was especially true after hearing the story of the Doctor giving up his life to save Rose Tyler from the vortex. There just wasn't a need for the Doctor to know that Jack knew the whole story of Rose getting lost at Canary Wharf.

"Good old Rose." Martha mumbled, lagging slightly behind Jack as he followed the Doctor. Hoping to wipe the look of jealousy off Martha's face, Jack allowed her to catch up to him, leaving the Doctor scrutinizing the landscape surrounding them.

"So what's your story? How did you manage to hop a ride through time and space?"

Martha smiled a bit, glad to accept the Captain's attempt at casual conversation—as casual as conversation can be when she had just seen him return from the dead. And they were apparently visiting the end of the universe. "He checked himself into the hospital I was working at. It was strange enough to notice the patient had two hearts, but, two days after he checked in, the whole hospital got transported to the moon."

"Royal Hope, then? I was watching that. Should have known that had 'the Doctor' written all over it."

"So, we solved that—well, mainly he solved that, but I helped—and he offered me a trip. Along the way I just became a permanent resident of the TARDIS. What about you? He said you used to travel with him?"

Jack nodded. "Met him during the Second World War. Now that… is a long story. Let's just say it has too many bombs, gas masks, and zombie children wanting their mummies." Martha shot him a look, not sure how those three items could be connected... or even what a zombie child would be. "But the real story is the last time I saw him."

"How's that, then?"

"We were way off in the future, the Doctor, Rose and I, battling Daleks. We were… separated, and I heard the TARDIS dematerialize as I was making it back to them."

"You mean he just left you?"

Again, Jack nodded. "So there I was stranded in the year 200100, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me." The Doctor made a clear point not to turn around during this story, He didn't want to face Jack's accusatory stare, or the way he knew Martha would be wondering if this could be foreshadowing for how he would leave her.

Jack continued, "But I had this!" Martha reached for his extended arm, examining the device on the Captain's wrist. "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a Vortex Manipulator; he's not the only one who can time travel."

"Oh, excuse me, _that_ is not time travel!" The Doctor exclaimed, pointing towards Jack's wrist. "It's like I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."

Martha let out a laugh as she compared their faces, Jack's sarcastic and the Doctor's confident. "Oh, boys and their toys!"

"Alright, so I bounced." Jack bit off the end of the word. "I thought, 21st century, best place to find the Doctor. Except, I got it a little wrong. I arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."

"Told you." Smug, Jack thought. That's what the Doctor was. Smug.

"I had to live through the entire 20th century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me! And yet somehow-" Jack stopped suddenly, stopping any form of sarcastic remark about Rose only having to live through two days in this universe without the Doctor.

"What?" the Doctor turned to look at him quickly, obviously uncomfortable facing Jack though he was trying to look relaxed with his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing." Jack refused to make eye contact and the Doctor returned to his strolling.

"But that makes you more than a hundred years old!" Martha stated suddenly, clearly surprised.

"And looking good, don't you think?" Jack let out a small chuckle. "So I went to the time rift, based myself there, 'cause I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I got a signal on this detecting you and here we are."

"But the thing is how come you left him behind, Doctor?"

"I was busy." Nonchalant. That's the emotion the Doctor was attempting right now, Jack realized. Attempting… and failing that is. Of course, with Rose's added perspective, what the Doctor described as "busy" certainly wasn't wrong. He was dying, regenerating, ensuring that Rose would survive her encounter with the vortex. Still, Jack could have helped. Maybe the regeneration was going to happen either way, but Jack could have at least helped Rose. Because, though Rose Tyler had firmly believed in Jack's death, that he was sure of, there was no way in hell the Doctor had left the Gamestation believing Jack was dead. Not with the way he was deflecting questions.

"Is that what happens though, seriously? Do you just get bored of us one day and disappear?"

"Not if you're blonde," Jack snorted, sending a glare towards the Doctor.

"Oh, she was blonde! What a surprise!"

"You two! We're at the end of the universe! Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy… blogging!" the Doctor knew he shouldn't yell—everything they were saying was completely true—but he just couldn't take anymore. The old memories of his leather-clad self, Rose and the Captain… He wanted those memories. The days when he had Rose by his side and Jack didn't feel like a freak of nature to his senses. Didn't Jack know what he was doing, forcing these old memories up again? One look at Martha's face, though, and the slight reminder that he had never gotten mad at her like this before made him lower his voice before walking in a new direction. "Come on."

Walking towards the edge of a nearby cliff, the trio came upon a huge city, craved right into the canyon. Walkways spanned across the chasm; little windows and doors left a skeleton of homes and civilization. What little light filtered through offered no hope for the situation; instead, it only highlighted the sensation of death.

"Is that a city?" Martha asked, clearly in awe of the natural-looking formation.

"City or a hive." The Doctor was quick to answer. "Or a nest. Or a conglomeration. Looks like it was grown. But look there… It's like pathways, roads. Must have been some sort of life." He took a deep breath in through his teeth. "Long ago."

"What killed it?" Martha's tone had slipped into sorrow and remorse for the obvious loss of life. Jack stole a glance towards the Doctor, curious as to his answer.

"Time. Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations are gone. This isn't just night… All the stars are burned out and faded away. Into nothing."

"It must have an atmospheric shell," Jack reasoned, "We should be frozen to death."

"Well… Martha and I, maybe. Not so sure about you, Jack." Jack sent a puzzled look towards the Doctor. How much did he know about Jack's immortality? Did he know, no matter how many times he died, or whatever way he was killed, Jack could never stay dead? More importantly, could the Doctor help?

Their gazes remained locked until Martha spoke again. "What about the people? Does no one survive?

"I suppose. We have to hope life will find a way." The Doctor's words were empty, though; their tone didn't carry the message of hope that the word did.

Suddenly, a movement caught Jack's eye. On a bridge below, a man was running full speed, the kind of running that was only induced by life-threatening situations. But that meant there was still life, still a form of competition over life. "He's not doing too bad."

Of course, he might argue otherwise, what with that crowd bearing torches chasing after him.

"Is that me or does that look like a hunt? Come on!" In an instant, the Doctor was in motion again, snapping at the chance to help someone. Before Jack and Martha could tear their eyes away from the scene forming below, he was already several feet ahead.

"Oh, I've missed this!" Jack cried as the first rush of adrenaline hit running down the hill. He could feel the contents of his backpack bumping around, and he glanced back, worried about damaging its important cargo.

As they got closer to the man, fear was evident on his face. A look of warning passed by as well, trying to convince the madmen running _towards_ the danger that it was the wrong way to go. When they reached him, Jack grabbed the man around his waist, shouting as he pulled the man behind him, towards the Doctor.

The mob was screaming as Jack pulled his gun, aiming towards the crowd until the Doctor shouted, "Jack, don't you dare!"

_Don't you dare? _Jack thought, glaring over his shoulder towards the Doctor. _Did you want to die?_ But the Doctor's face was insistent, so Jack growled, aiming his gun upwards instead. Firing off one, two, three warning shots caused the mob to halt in their tracks, staring at the small band of travelers in confusion.

"What the hell are they?" Martha's voice was shrill with fear as she had her first good look at the humanoid creatures. Long, pointy teeth, animalistic tendencies and strange forms of war paint proved they were human, but she was right. What the hell are they?

"There's more of them; we've got to keep moving!" Even safely behind both Jack and the Doctor, the man was still clearly frightened by the creatures.

"I've got a ship nearby. It's safe; it's not far; it's over there." But as the Doctor pointed towards "over there", another mob came screaming down the hill, screaming and torches blazing. "Or maybe not."

"We're close to the silo!" The man insisted. "If we get to the silo, then we're safe."

"Silo?" The Doctor questioned, looking towards his companions.

"Silo," Jack agreed.

"Silo for me," Martha nodded.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the group took off running, both groups of mobs hot on their heels. Luckily, as they rounded another corner, lights from what Jack presumed was the silo were brightening their path.

The man in the lead began yelling as soon as he knew the guards would hear. "It's the Futurekind; they're coming! Open the gate!"

Behind a high metal fence, soldiers carrying guns jumped into action. "Show me your teeth!" They ordered, repeating until the band was pressed against the gate. After glancing at all four humanoids, the guard looked behind him. "Human! Let them in! Let them in!"

The gates opened, not a second too soon. The guards were quick, obviously accustomed to travelers desperately running away from this "Futurekind". When the gates were only three inches apart, the guard took out a machine gun, firing towards the feet of the approaching Futurekind. The oncoming humanoids skidded to a stop, only about ten feet outside the camp.

Everyone held their breath as the leader hissed out a message. "Humans. Humani. Make feast!"

"Go back to where you came from! I said go back!" The guard repeated when the creature stepped closer to the camp. "Back!"

"Oh, dont tell him to put his gun down." Jack mutter, annoyed, towards the Doctor.

"He's not my responsibility," the Doctor was quick to answer.

"And I am? That makes a change." _The things that are your responsibility never turn out well, do they, Doctor?_ Jack glared toward the Time Lord, bitter thoughts racing through his head. _Look at me and Rose. I'd hate to think about who came before or after us._

"Kind want you." The monster outside the gates was still making threats, almost tauntingly now. "Kind hungry."

As the group outside retreated, the Doctor turned towards the guard. "Thanks for that."

He nodded. "Right, let's get you inside.

"My name is Padra Fet Shafe Cane." The man who had joined them outside wasted no time running up to the guard. "Tell me, just tell me. Can you take me to Utopia?"

For the first time, the guard smiled. A small gleam of hope in the dark world the travelers had stumbled upon. "Oh, yes, sir. Yes, I can."

* * *

It has officially been six hours.

Wasn't the rule to wait five hours?

_Congratulations, Doctor, you've done it again._ Rose thought bitterly, curled up on the same Torchwood sofa she and Jack spent so long on earlier. Her arms were even crossed a little bit like Tony would have done when Jackie didn't get food to him quick enough. Even through her anger, even Rose knew how pathetic she was acting. The Doctor didn't know she was here, couldn't possibly have been avoiding her when he took off too early.

But… Still…

He had a _time machine_. He could have showed up two minutes after Jack had left.

Hope. That's what dangerous, Rose decided. Because in one evening, she had caught up with Jack and found some solace and heard the most beautiful sound in the universe. She had hoped everything would be perfect. She had hoped she could have her old life back. Now, everything and everyone she thought she had found within the last 24 hours was gone.

What's worse, Rose was in Torchwood. Sure, she knew her way around and could lead the team without breaking a sweat. That paperwork cluttering Jack's desk could be finished by sunset. Owen's autopsy needed to be reorganized—even if he would find pleasure in autopsying her body if she ever touched his things. Coffee could be brewing long before Ianto arrived, giving him an extra few minutes to relax before the team started nagging him.

Shame the team didn't trust her.

She wasn't this team's leader. No, Torchwood Three's leader was off exploring the universe with a Time Lord. Ianto had threatened to _kill_her the previous evening when they met; the only reason he backed off was because of Jack. Now he was gone. For all they knew, Rose had killed him!

One of the computer terminals beeped behind Rose, drawing her out of her pessimistic pondering. That wasn't the first time the computer had gone off this evening; what did that mean? Object coming up through the rift? Well, Rose supposed she could use a distraction. Alien artifact, random Weevil, friendly human-sized rodent willing to sit for a chat… Rose was up for anything. Something to keep her mind distracted.

Shaking the mouse on Tosh's computer, red and blue dots flashed over a map of Cardiff. The line it followed wasn't too different than the rift line in Pete's World. The main difference was the large quantity of dots appearing—and the way Tosh had programmed her computer. In the other universe, Rose had gotten fairly used to Tosh's computer touches over the five years the women had worked together. Previous locations where things had come through the rift were marked with a hollow, white circle. Items/aliens/humans out of their timelines that had appeared within the last hour showed in a red circle if they were from the future and a green circle if they were from the past. After one hour had passed, the colors would slowly fade until, after about 48 hours, the circles would become white. If one week passed without another occurrence at that spot, then the circle would become hollow.

Rose had never seen more than three dots appear in a complete week, though, and this map was showing about five in one evening. Surely, then, the four blue dots represented old spots and the singular red dot represented a disturbance within the last few hours. This Tosh—actually, this Torchwood—was so much newer than Rose's had been; the program probably would become more advanced as Tosh continued to work for Torchwood. Pete's World had run slightly ahead of this universe when Rose had been sucked in, though, now, it seemed to run years ahead instead of months. Rose had to expect everything to be slightly… behind where she was used to it.

Rose checked her watch, wondering if she had enough time to investigate the new occurrence before the first members of the team arrived. Somehow, after sulking like a child for the whole evening, it was now past six in the morning. Ianto, at least, could be expected to work within the next hour. Rose smiled, thinking there was no better way to gain the trust of the team than Weevil chasing. Leaning back in her chair, hands behind her head, Rose let out a breath she had been holding since the TARDIS had disappeared. Torchwood Three could learn to trust her for just a short while until Jack and the Doctor returned within a few days. Maybe while Jack was gone she could do something to make the Hub a little less, well, disgusting. As a nice "Thank You for Not Making Me Feel Like a Bitch" gift.

Hope.

That damned emotion was sneaking back into her thoughts again. Growling, Rose snapped out of her chair, her legs running before her brain could realize where they were going. Through the vault entrance and up through the tourist shop, Rose ran, not stopping until she could take the fresh air outside. Long lost echoes of threatening shouts and the snapping barks of German Shepards ran through her memory as the door closed behind her. Gasping for air, feeling slightly like a panic attack could hit at any second, Rose glanced around the early morning plaza. The sun was rising, peacefully, and sea gulls cried somewhere close by. A couple jogged by, both wearing brightly colored track suits, sweat indicating they had already completed several miles. Far in the distance, Rose could see a dark-skinned man pushing a stroller back towards a row of apartments. He reminded her so much of Mickey in that moment that Rose wanted to say hello, wanted to introduce herself. But she couldn't torture herself like that. Because Mickey Smith was dead, buried in another universe, and there was nothing Rose could do for him anymore.

"Rose?" A voice behind her gently asked, startling her. With her heartbeat in her ears, and her fight-or-flight response fully operational, Rose spun to meet her attacker—and stopped short when it proved to only be Ianto Jones, the very member of Torchwood Three that Rose had predicted would arrive first. His eyes were startled, and he had instinctively taken a few steps backward, one hand outstretched as if to restrain her. When Rose didn't say anything, only stared at him with startled eyes, he tried again. "I called your name a few times, but you didn't seem to hear me… I only wanted to make sure you were alright, ma'am."

Attempted to relax her stance and put on a smile, Rose replied, "You don't have to call me 'ma'am', Ianto. I won't even respond to it, actually. And, yes, I'm fine. Sorry I was startled it's just…" How could see explain the feeling that came over her? She could, so she didn't. Simple as that. "Actually, I saw a strange warning pop up on Tosh's computer maybe an hour ago. Do you think you could help me interpret what it means?"

Ianto nodded, still looking at Rose warily. _Great, _Rose thought. Almost attacking a member of the team really helped them trust her.

Without another word, Ianto and Rose continued down into the control room of Torchwood, willing Tosh's computer awake again. Ianto, still in his long overcoat, leaned over the computer, almost as if his first instinct was to keep the information from Rose.

"So, what do you think?" Rose asked when Ianto didn't turn away from the screen. "Shall we go chase down a Weevil?"

He turned to look at her slowly. "Do you think there's only one spot out there?"

"Well, of course, I don't know what all of the symbols on Tosh's computer meant, but I figured the red dot would be the most recent disturbance. Why? Something wrong?"

"All those blue ones? They happened last night too. We have four objects from the past floating around Cardiff and one person or alien from the future. This is a serious problem. Where is Jack?"

Rose could still hear the vault door opening again downstairs, indicating another member was arriving, and Rose didn't have an answer. _Where is Jack?_

"I don't know."

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